


allegro

by ashikiba (cb97)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Pianist!Midorima, Unrequited Love, they all still play basketball though, why do i always make someone die who knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 02:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4902055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cb97/pseuds/ashikiba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He can almost feel Kise’s hand tugging on the back of his shirt, can almost hear him say “Teach me, Midorimacchi?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	allegro

_before_

-

When Aomine and Kise gathered the Miracles in the Touou Academy gym he knew something was wrong. When the two linked their hands together, Midorima felt his stomach churn.

 

“You picked the optimum day to tell us. Virgos are ranked number two, and Geminis are ranked number one. Congratulations.”

-

_He slams his hands down on the piano in a jumble of notes when he remembers the blinding smile Kise shoots at him after saying that._

-

Midorima can’t count the number of times he’s heard Kise yell “Midorimacchi!” and envelop him in a hug. He can’t count the number of times his heart has clenched after hearing the dumb nickname.

-

_The song starts slow, in low notes, but it’s not sad. It’s calm. (He knows what calm always leads to, but he lets himself get caught up in it.)_

-

He would never admit to liking the honorific that Kise tacked onto the ending of his name. He knows it means Kise respects him.

  
He realizes he’ll never have to admit it, because after “Aominecchi!” becomes “Daiki!”, the sound of his name being called out by Kise feels like nails on a chalkboard.

-

_It picks up, the notes become livelier. He can almost feel Kise’s hand tugging on the back of his shirt, can almost hear him say “Teach me, Midorimacchi?”_

-

Kuroko says it’s obvious, that anyone could feel Kise in the music Midorima writes. He can’t deny it, all of the songs he composes start with Midorima humming while looking at Kise. Kise’s laughs are the high, tinkling notes. Kise’s personality is in the erratic, all-over the place notes of the melody. Kise’s focus and strength are in the heavy notes coming from his left hand. Akashi tells him his songs are absolute. Murasakibara says his songs about Kise-chin are sweet. Kuroko squeezes his arm, Kagami nods at him. Aomine says he gets it.

 

If Kise notices, he never says anything about it.

 

 

 

_after_

-

Aomine says he sees Kise in everything when he looks outside. He says Kise is like the rays of sunlight. (Midorima would never compare the sunshine to Kise. Sunshine illuminates the dust in the air, shows you every particle of dirt. Sunshine was tainted, Kise was pure.)

-

_He loses track of what’s happening in the song. It overwhelms him. He takes a break. (He can’t perform it anymore.)_

-

Midorima wants to say he knew Kise best, he wants to scream at everyone and tell them that there is no way they loved Kise as much as he did.

 

But, he knows it isn’t true. He sees Kuroko look a little less enthusiastic when holding his basketball. He sees Akashi falter when he calls out their names, knowing there should be one more. He sees Murasakibara leave one piece of candy untouched. He notices that Aomine plays twice as hard, and talks so much less.

 

He notices how they all cringe when someone calls them the Generation of Miracles. Because they’re not, they can’t be, not without all of their pieces.

-

_The mood of the song changes. His fingers move up the piano. He plays faster, louder, lighter. (This is when his heart feels the heaviest.)_

-

He misses a shot. No defenders, nobody else on the court. He stands at the three point line and watches the ball hit the rim and bounce away.

  
He wonders if Kise could copy that.

-

_The notes slow down, his hands tense. He presses the keys harder. (This is the part that feels most like Kise, this is where Midorima’s eyes blur with tears.)_

_The piano is black and white, but all anyone can hear are Kise’s colors._

__

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to [nizhni](http://josuha.tumblr.com) for essentially writing this with me and editing it 
> 
> also hmu on tumblr [@hyunsoeng](http://hyunsoeng.tumblr.com)


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